Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1887-04-17
POPULAR Discomfort AND LOW
PRICES.


POPULAR DISCONTENT AND LOW
PRICES.
Mr. SAMUEL SMITH, a member of Parlia-
ment, delivered a lecture at Manchester,
England, some time ago, on low prices
and discomfort. lie iayors q bimetallic
money and shows that the periods ofgreat-
est distress in England have been those in
which the currency has been contracted.
There have been three great fluctuations in
English currency in the present century
First, an era of low prices from
1910 to ISIS, brought about by
the resumption Of specie payments
on the single gold standard, marked
by great distress among the people. 'It is
beyond dispute" says Mr.. Smith, that
this was the dreariest time in the history
of England. Large sections of the working
classes were half starved, and at times the
country was ON the eve Of q social revOlu-
ton" The distress was greatly aggravated
by the prOdigious fall in prices, OF, what is
the same thing, by the great appreciation
Of the gold standard; the huge national
debt Of 81, 500, OOO, 900, contracted mainly
i~ninconyertible currency and representing,
according to Mr.. Gladstone, from one fourth
to One-third the whole capital of the nation,
and all debts went through the same process,
thus bringing ruin upon the debtor class,
The second movement was when gold
WAS discovered in California and Australia.
This made money plenty. This" says
Mr.. SMITH, was by far the most pros
porous epoch Of English trade. The ex-
ports Spraug up by leaps and bounds,
mounting from $3l5,OOO 600 in 1919 to
81, 275, 900, OOO in 1873. Prices kept stead
lily rising; labor was we'll employed; often
scarce in the manufacturing districts;
wages rose on the average fully 50 per
cent.-indeed, when regularity of employ
ment IL taken into account, | question
whether the money earnings dill not in
crease - per cent"
The third era is the present, the era Of
low prices, discomfort and small profits.
Says Mr.. SMITH: ut is difficult to say
what trade has not been depressed, and
agriculture the worst of all. Nor have the
operatives gained what the employers have
lost / have never in my experience seen
such misery among the artisan class in
Liverpool as | have seen during the last
few years" Prices have fallen 90 to 90
per cent. from 1873; indeed, with
the single exception of 1919 they
have reached the lowest point touched in
the last loo years. British exports have
declined from 81, 275, geo, 600 in 1873 to ST.
600, 900, 600 in 1856; and yet the quaint
ties nave increased so largely that if the
exports of last year were valued at the
prices Of 1873, their value would be ST.
500, 600, 900. "Al fixed debt burdens
have grown heavier. The idle and non
productive class have gained immensely at
the expense of the industrious class. The
iund-hOlder, the mortgage and the money
lender have drawn within their clutches a
large part OF the property of the active in
dustrial class, and there has been a sense
of almost hopeless oppression weighing on
the eommunity."
The seeretOf this trouble is given in this:
that hardly any new coinage Of gold is
now taking place; most Of the minis o.
Europe are almost eeasing to coin new
money; and while trade and population
constantly grow and demand more metal
tic currency there Is a steadily diminishing
quantity to meet it." The worlds pro-